"O meu coração não tem cor" ("My heart has no colour") was the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996

Eurovision Song Contest 1996

The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 18 May 1996 in Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway. The presenters were Ingvild Bryn and Morten Harket. Harket, lead singer of a-ha, opened the show with a performance of his single "Heaven's Not For Saints". Eimear...

, performed in Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

 by Lúcia Moniz

Lúcia Moniz

Ana Lúcia Pereira Moniz is a Portuguese singer and actress. Moniz represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 and has released three music albums to date. She has also acted in several films, including Love Actually....

.

Composed by Pedro Osório and with lyrics by José Fanha, the song is a moderately up-tempo number. Moniz sings in praise of the Portuguese language and Lusophone

Lusophone

A Lusophone is someone who speaks the Portuguese language, either as a native, as an additional language, or as a learner. As an adjective, it means "Portuguese-speaking"...

 culture in general, describing the result of the former Portuguese Empire

Portuguese Empire

The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...

 as a "tricontinental party" in which "What's far away is still close in songs". Such a theme is common in Portuguese entries, and indeed the country's 1995 entry

Baunilha E Chocolate

"Baunilha e chocolate" was the Portuguese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995, performed in Portuguese by Tó Cruz....

 had been based around it.

Moniz names the various dances and musical styles throughout the Lusophone community, singing that "We dance the samba

Samba

Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...

, the marrabenta

Marrabenta

Marrabenta is a form of Mozambican dance music. It was developed in Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, formerly Lourenço Marques. The name was derived from the Portuguese rebentar , meaning to break. Marrabenta is influenced by Mozambican and Portuguese folk music and the Western popular music...

 too/We weep the fado

Fado

Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...

 and roll the coladeira" among others. Mention is also made of the variety of foods found throughout the community, with fig

Ficus

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...

, papaya

Papaya

The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...

 and guarana

Guarana

Guarana , Paullinia cupana, syn. P. crysan, P. sorbilis) is a climbing plant in the maple family, Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guarana features large leaves and clusters of flowers, and is best known for its fruit, which is about the size of a coffee bean...

 all being things which the "lips" of Moniz' listeners have a "rowdy craving" for.

The song was performed fourth on the night, following Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

's Antonio Carbonell

Antonio Carbonell

Antonio Carbonell Muñoz is a Spanish singer-songwriter of romani heritage, known for his participation in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest....

 with "¡Ay, qué deseo!

¡Ay, qué deseo!

"¡Ay, qué deseo!" was the Spanish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, performed in Spanish by Antonio Carbonell.Composed and written by Antonio Carmona, Josemi Carmona and Juan Carmona , the song is a moderately up-tempo number...

" and preceding Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

' Constantinos

Constantinos Christoforou

Constantinos Christoforou, Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Χριστοφόρου , is a very famous Cypriot singer. He has sung for Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest on three occasions, in 1996, 2002 and 2005.-The Years In Cyprus:...

 with "Mono Yia Mas

Mono Yia Mas

"Mono Yia Mas" was the Cypriot entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, performed in Greek by Constantinos....

". At the close of voting, it had received 92 points, placing 6th in a field of 23, Portugal's best Contest result at the time and one which (as of 2011

Eurovision Song Contest 2011

The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th annual Eurovision Song Contest and was won by Eldar & Nigar performing "Running Scared" for Azerbaijan. The event took place in the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany, following Germany's win in the previous year...

) has not yet been bettered.

It was succeeded as Portuguese representative

Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest

Portugal has entered the Eurovision Song Contest 45 times since its debut in the 1964 contest. Portugal has missed only three contests since the country's debut in 1964....

 at the 1997 contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1997

The Eurovision Song Contest 1997, was the 42nd Eurovision Song Contest and it was held at the Point Theatre Dublin, Ireland, on 3 May 1997. Boyzone member Ronan Keating and Carrie Crowley were the presenters of the show....

 by Célia Lawson with "Antes do adeus

Antes Do Adeus

"Antes do adeus" was the Portuguese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, performed in Portuguese by Célia Lawson.The song is a ballad, with Lawson recounting the events leading to the end of a relationship. She sings that her lover gradually moved away from her and returned things which they...

", which would ironically go on to record Portugal's worst result since the Carnation Revolution

Carnation Revolution

The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...

.

Moniz herself would go on to a career as an actress after a successful musical career in her home country. While most of her success was achieved in Portugal, she appeared as Aurélia in Love Actually

Love Actually

Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...

.